Long-range reconnaissance patrol
and British Commonwealth countries by units that could trace their origins to these wartime creations such as the British SAS, Australia's Special Air Service Regiment and the New Zealand Special Air Service, 1er RPIMa, 13e RDP, G.C.P., Groupement de Commandos Mixtes Aéroportés in France and the United States Army Rangers, Long Range Surveillance teams, and the dismounted reconnaissance troops of RSTA squadrons.
As indicated, the use of scouts is ancient, however, during the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the techniques of long-range reconnaissance and raiding were significantly implemented by the British in colonial North America.
The achievements of Major Roberts's dozen companies of approximately 1,200 men during the French and Indian War were so extraordinary that his doctrine, "Standing Orders, Rogers' Rangers," 1759, became the cornerstone of future U.S. Army long-range reconnaissance patrol units.
Missions included medium range reconnaissance patrols, observation of enemy troop movements, and long range offensive operations and ambushing in enemy dominated territory in support of 1ATF operations throughout Phuoc Tuy Province as well as Bien Hoa, Long Khanh and Binh Tuy provinces.
The Canadian Rangers conduct long-range surveillance or sovereignty patrols in the sparsely settled areas of Northern Canada.
Patrol Pathfinders are trained in airborne and amphibious insertion, including by submarine, and conduct deep reconnaissance missions The Danish Defence Forces had three Long-Range Surveillance companies (LRSC) known as "Patrol-Companies" (PTLCOY): two assigned to the two Land Commands: LANDJUT and LANDZEALAND (Corps-level) (abbreviated "SEP/ELK" and "SEP/VLK" for: "Specielle Efterretningspatruljer/Østre resp.
After the war, NATO hired former members of the 4th Detached Battalion to spy on Soviet Union's military bases in the Kola Peninsula and Karelian Isthmus.
During the Cold War, the Korps Commandotroepen were known as Waarneming en Verkenning Compagnie (observation and reconnaissance company) and specialized in staying behind enemy lines.
The Special Actions Detachment of the Portuguese Navy also carries out LRRP missions, mainly in the scope of amphibious operations.
[15][16][17] The 21 SAS was stood up in 1947 specifically for the task of letting themselves be bypassed and staying-behind in the event of a Soviet Invasion of Western Europe, they were later joined by 23 SAS and in 1973, the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) which became a Surveillance and Target Acquisition (STA) Patrol Regiment providing Stay-Behind Observation Posts (SBOP) with their three squadrons each with a number of four to six man patrols.
In the South West Pacific Theater of Operations, the Alamo Scouts conducted over 110 intelligence gathering missions behind enemy lines throughout New Guinea and the Philippines during 1944–45.
Of those that successfully completed the rigorous course, 138 became full-time Alamo Scouts, while the others returned to their units to serve as reconnaissance troops.
In 1988, the U.S. Army retroactively awarded members of the Alamo Scouts the Special Forces tab due to their wartime record and the techniques they pioneered.
They patrolled near the Czechoslovakian and East German borders, then members of the Communist Warsaw Pact states, and in event of war in Europe would be inserted behind enemy lines to provide surveillance and to select targets of opportunity.
Provisional LRRP Companies made up of both trained LRRPs and regular soldiers were put together for a series of exercises called Wintershield and proved themselves in the field.
Both companies used carrier wave (Morse Code) radios including the AN/TRC-77 for long-range communications to their respective Corps G2 (Intelligence) center.
[1] In the 1960s, the U. S. Army Southern European Task Force (SETAF) utilized the Airborne Recon Platoon of the 1st Combat Aviation Company (Provisional) located in Verona, Italy.
Three years later in 1965 when Captain James served in Vietnam with the 1st Cavalry Division he utilized much of the tactics, structure, and doctrine of the Airborne Recon Platoon when creating Company E, 52nd Infantry (LRP).
[22][25] On 8 July 1966, General William Westmoreland authorized the formation of a (LRRP) unit in each infantry brigade or division in Vietnam.
LRRP training was notoriously rigorous and team leaders were often graduates of the U.S. Army's 5th Special Forces Group Recondo School in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
[1][26] Tiger Force was the nickname of an infamous long-range reconnaissance patrol unit[27] of the 1st Battalion (Airborne), 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade (Separate), 101st Airborne Division, which fought in the Vietnam War, and was responsible for counterinsurgency operations against the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and Viet Cong.
In addition, the Marines did not employ indigenous Montagnards as front and rear scouts as Army LRRPs and Special Forces teams did which proved invaluable in confusing the enemy if contact was made.
Writes one commentator: "During the course of the war Lurps conducted around 23,000 long-range patrols, of this amount two-thirds resulted in enemy sightings."
In 1977, Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom sent instructors to Germany to work on the planning of an international long-range reconnaissance patrol (LRRP) school.
From 1979 onward, joint training for LRRP and military stay-behind units was conducted at NATO's International Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol School (ILRRPS) in Weingarten, Germany, under the lead of UK SF.
British SAS, German Fernspäher, Dutch Marines, Belgian Para-Commandos, US SF, and others worked and trained together on a daily basis.
[37] Courses included Long Range Reconnaissance, Combat Survival (E&E and resistance to interrogation), Advanced WP Specialist Recognition, Close Quarter Battle and so on.
